Bono Pizza Closes and Relocates

Bono Pizza, located at 1717 Northwest Boulevard, has been serving the Grandview/5xNW community for the past four years, and in that time, has not only garnered a loyal following, but helped elevate a part of town that’s now a small business hot spot. On Monday, February 10th, Bono Pizza closed its original storefront for good.

A relationship-gone-bad with Bono’s landlord is to blame for the closing. The doubling of rent and additional bills resulted in a court battle that Jake Wilch, owner of Bono Pizza, eventually lost, and with that defeat, comes a change in venue.

This Valentine’s Day, Bono Pizza is going to show its fans some love by re-opening in the same neighborhood. Bono Pizza will temporarily operate from the back part of 1420 Bar & Grill, which is situated at 1420 Presidential Drive, less than a minute drive from the original spot.

Nothing is going to change about the way Bono does business. It will carry the same menu of wood-fired, oven-baked pizzas customers have come to love, and will serve them in roughly the same hours of operation.

In several ways, Bono’s eviction from the 1717 Northwest location is a blessing. The space was growing too small for Wilch and his crew, and so, this April, Bono will move into a new space a half block away, making them neighbors with another Grandview pizza haven, Meister’s Pizza.

“We love and appreciate all our customers, and all the help they’re giving us,” shares Wilch about his decision to reopen in the area. “This community is amazing, and that really makes this fun to do. This is a small setback, but we believe we have a prosperous future ahead.”

Bono Pizza will begin its new opeartions at 1420 Bar & Grill this Friday at 5pm. The new store should be ready to open by Mid-April if all zoning and coding issues are resolved.

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I feel badly for the next business that tries to rent from that landlord.

Roland

This article is really irking me. It portrays the Bono crew as potentially difficult to work with. This is unfair.

There is no mention of the code enforcement upgrade situation with the building they were located. And no mention that the convenient store they shared the space with had vacated, which is important because their main entrance was located in that now inaccessible space.

It’s possible for a business to need to relocate because it makes sense to do so and be portrayed that way as well.

Eugene_C

I thought it made the landord sound kind of difficult. A doubling of rent? Seems like the landlord is trying to cash on on the value that businesses like this pizza shop helped to create in the neighborhood, only it’s verging on the point of gouging.

(of course to be fair, we’re working on very limited information here, so we’re doing what you might call ‘extrapolation’)

http://www.columbusunderground.com Walker

Roland – I don’t read it that way at all. Ayana wanted to keep the dispute between Bono and their landlord relatively minimal/civil in this article, as the main purpose is to inform customers that they’re relocating and where they can continue to find their pizza.

Graybeak

It is nice when businesses try to stay classy and keep conflicts with landlords on the DL, but it doesn’t always work. Sometimes the details get dragged out later, to even more fanfare.
However, this can work to build more exposure and sympathy for a business.
Which goodwill can then be spent on other, development type subjects…

mbeaumont

I didn’t read it that way, Roland, fwiw.

I love the idea of Bono next to Meisters. Two completely different pizzas right next to each other. Love it!

Roland

I suppose I’m just being sensitive. If I were a potential landlord to BonoPizza and read this article. I would think twice about it since I don’t want a difficult tenant that is prone to suing his landlord. That’s where my thoughts were coming from.

I’m glad they are moving. I wish Jake and crew all the best.

Achekov

Landlord-tenant spats happen all the time. I’ve had a few in my life. I don’t think it’s really a big deal.